Phillip Mitsis | New York University (original) (raw)
Papers by Phillip Mitsis
.Scripta Classica Israelica 44 , 2025
Oxford Handbook of Epicurus and Epicureanism, ed. P. Mitsis, 2020
Surveys and discusses scholarship on Epicurean friendship
eds. Wolfgang Haase and Hildegard Temporini, Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt : (ANRW) , 1994
“On Revisiting ‘Epicurus on the Art of Dying’,” eds. David Keyt and Christopher Shields, Principles and Praxis in Ancient Philosophy: Essays in Ancient Philosophy in Honor of Fred D. Miller, Jr. in Philosophical Studies Series 155, ed. Mariarosaria Taddeo (Springer, 2024), 399-417., 2024
The paper revisits Fred Miller's "Epicurus on the Art of Dying" and elaborates its arguments in t... more The paper revisits Fred Miller's "Epicurus on the Art of Dying" and elaborates its arguments in the light of subsequent scholarship in order to show why a series of leading contemporary interpretations of Epicurean claims about death are deeply inadequate and why Epicurus’s view is not just a clever puzzle, but a position with considerable, even attractive, argumentative resources.
," eds. Michael Vasquez and Andree Hahmann, Cicero as Philosopher: Interpretation and Legacy [CICERO – Studies on Roman Thought and Its Reception] (De Gruyter, 2024), 347-365., 2024
I argue that the usual passages in Cicero's philosophical works that are used to expound a theory... more I argue that the usual passages in Cicero's philosophical works that are used to expound a theory of private property are mainly stoic and do not necessarily reflect his own historical views, and moreover, that it is hardly clear that the passages are even about private property.
Francesca Masi, Pierre-Marie Morel, and Francesco Verde, Epicureanism and Scientific Debates. Epicurean Tradition and Ancient Reception. Volume II: Epistemology and Ethics, (Leuven University Press, 2024), 119-138., 2024
The paper argues that Epicurus rejects the notion that there are any necessary laws in the world ... more The paper argues that Epicurus rejects the notion that there are any necessary laws in the world given that he denies bi-valence for future contingents, in part because the swerve makes any necessary causal chains impossible at the physical level. Since the swerve has always been in force, no causal chains of necessity have arisen or could ever arise. Lucretius as well argues that there are temporary foedera natura that arise randomly, but these are not necessary nor can they be identified with causal laws. The paper begins by focussing on Ad Men. 133 where an erroneous supplement to the text has led to the notion that some things are by necessity, and argues that this supplement makes no sense in the argumentative context of the passage nor does it correspond it any evidence that we have from elsewhere.
Stoic fashion, ancient and modern
Explores the question of Minnie's innocence in Susan Glaspell's Trifles and why critics have syst... more Explores the question of Minnie's innocence in Susan Glaspell's Trifles and why critics have systematically failed to raise the question and the relevance of this to legal cases of domestic violence.
Paideai on Stage, 2023
My argument will not be taking up problems of genre or structure, except in a cursory way, althou... more My argument will not be taking up problems of genre or structure, except in a cursory way, although at points it relies on claims about the drama's overall narrative form and its possible effects. What I wish to focus on instead are the ways in which several original, if problematic aspects of the drama stem from its metadramatic handling of death and the fear of death. The effects produced by these Euripidean metadramatic strategies, I argue, have important political and pedagogical implications as well, and perhaps not just for an Athenian audience of the 430s. These, at least to my knowledge, have not garnered sufficient attention among the profusion of scholars writing on the play from the varied and often conflicting critical perspectives of religion, gender, literary theory, democratic ideology, and so forth.
The Routledge Handbook of Hellenistic Philosophy, 2020
ed. Iakovos Vasiliou, Moral Motivation: A History, in the series Oxford Philosophical Concepts (Oxford University Press), 2016
This essay makes three connected claims. First, following the Stoics, Locke assigns a motivationa... more This essay makes three connected claims. First, following the Stoics, Locke assigns a motivational and not merely justificatory role to the law of nature that features prominently in the earlier Essays. Second, the hedonism prominent in later editions of the Essay has a justificatory and not merely motivational role, since, like ancient eudaimonists, Locke permits an objective ranking of certain pleasures and pains, and these operate within his theory as constituents of an objectively conceived human good, not merely as motivational sanctions. Third, the characteristic feature of rational agency, as developed in later editions of the Essay, is a capacity to evaluate and alter the strength of various pressing occurrent motives, through suspension and reflection, in the light of the rational authority and motivational power of moral law and individual happiness. The upshot is that Locke's theory is better integrated than some have supposed, while drawing heavily on ancient precedents.
Ed. M. Santirocco, What’s New about the Old? Reassessing the Ancient World (Daedalus, Spring 2016) , 2016
Corporations and academic institutions with valid photocopying and/or digital licenses with the C... more Corporations and academic institutions with valid photocopying and/or digital licenses with the Copyright Clearance Center (ccc) may reproduce content from Daedalus under the terms of their license. Please go to www.copyright.com; ccc, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers ma 01923. The typeface is Cycles, designed by Sumner Stone at the Stone Type Foundry of Guinda ca. Each size of Cycles has been sep arately designed in the tradition of metal types.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Eds. Bruce Robbins and Paulo Lemos Horta, Cosmopolitanisms, 2017
A somewhat popularizing survey of some issues that I take up in much more historical and philosop... more A somewhat popularizing survey of some issues that I take up in much more historical and philosophical detail in Stoic Political Theory (Chapter 5 of The Stoic Origins of Western Ethical and Political Thought) forthcoming
Научный и информационно-аналитический Гуманитарный Журнал. Ценности и смыслы, 2019
Δευκαλίων 15/1, σ 173-192. , 1997
The Studia Philonica Annual 15 pp. 35-53, 2003
Studies in the History of Ethics, 2006
Unlike their hero Socrates, who in one of antiquity's taller war stories, warded off enemies in t... more Unlike their hero Socrates, who in one of antiquity's taller war stories, warded off enemies in the Athenian retreat from Potidaea with a mere goose-like glance (Symposium 221b), Zeno, Cleanthes, and Chrysippus, the founding fathers of Stoicism, were foreign metics who never served Athens in any military capacity. Moreover, what we have of their political theory suggests they were the original commie peaceniks. They were dead set against currencies, law courts, and private property, and gung ho for same sex dressing, incest, Zeus's universal laws, and world peace. How is it, one might well wonder, that Stoicism seems to have achieved such a vogue among America's military elite, not to mention among legions of vicarious warriors on Wall Street? Sherman claims that there is a natural and deep relation between military values and those attitudes that in common parlance we take to be "stoic". But I doubt this gets us very far toward an adequate explanation of the recent buzz, since a quick shake out of our conceptions shows rather more tenuous and contingent connections. We can easily imagine Gandhi, for instance, taking slaps from British officers "stoically" or generations of downtrodden, starving peasants enduring nature's blows with "stoicism". In this sense, "stoic" is just as readily associated with peace, agriculture, and stray dogs faced with fleas. By the same token, Achilles, Alexander,
Eds. Jon Miller and Brad Inwood, Hellenistic and Early Modern Philosophy (Cambridge, 2003) pp. 45-61. , 2003
All rights reserved.
.Scripta Classica Israelica 44 , 2025
Oxford Handbook of Epicurus and Epicureanism, ed. P. Mitsis, 2020
Surveys and discusses scholarship on Epicurean friendship
eds. Wolfgang Haase and Hildegard Temporini, Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt : (ANRW) , 1994
“On Revisiting ‘Epicurus on the Art of Dying’,” eds. David Keyt and Christopher Shields, Principles and Praxis in Ancient Philosophy: Essays in Ancient Philosophy in Honor of Fred D. Miller, Jr. in Philosophical Studies Series 155, ed. Mariarosaria Taddeo (Springer, 2024), 399-417., 2024
The paper revisits Fred Miller's "Epicurus on the Art of Dying" and elaborates its arguments in t... more The paper revisits Fred Miller's "Epicurus on the Art of Dying" and elaborates its arguments in the light of subsequent scholarship in order to show why a series of leading contemporary interpretations of Epicurean claims about death are deeply inadequate and why Epicurus’s view is not just a clever puzzle, but a position with considerable, even attractive, argumentative resources.
," eds. Michael Vasquez and Andree Hahmann, Cicero as Philosopher: Interpretation and Legacy [CICERO – Studies on Roman Thought and Its Reception] (De Gruyter, 2024), 347-365., 2024
I argue that the usual passages in Cicero's philosophical works that are used to expound a theory... more I argue that the usual passages in Cicero's philosophical works that are used to expound a theory of private property are mainly stoic and do not necessarily reflect his own historical views, and moreover, that it is hardly clear that the passages are even about private property.
Francesca Masi, Pierre-Marie Morel, and Francesco Verde, Epicureanism and Scientific Debates. Epicurean Tradition and Ancient Reception. Volume II: Epistemology and Ethics, (Leuven University Press, 2024), 119-138., 2024
The paper argues that Epicurus rejects the notion that there are any necessary laws in the world ... more The paper argues that Epicurus rejects the notion that there are any necessary laws in the world given that he denies bi-valence for future contingents, in part because the swerve makes any necessary causal chains impossible at the physical level. Since the swerve has always been in force, no causal chains of necessity have arisen or could ever arise. Lucretius as well argues that there are temporary foedera natura that arise randomly, but these are not necessary nor can they be identified with causal laws. The paper begins by focussing on Ad Men. 133 where an erroneous supplement to the text has led to the notion that some things are by necessity, and argues that this supplement makes no sense in the argumentative context of the passage nor does it correspond it any evidence that we have from elsewhere.
Stoic fashion, ancient and modern
Explores the question of Minnie's innocence in Susan Glaspell's Trifles and why critics have syst... more Explores the question of Minnie's innocence in Susan Glaspell's Trifles and why critics have systematically failed to raise the question and the relevance of this to legal cases of domestic violence.
Paideai on Stage, 2023
My argument will not be taking up problems of genre or structure, except in a cursory way, althou... more My argument will not be taking up problems of genre or structure, except in a cursory way, although at points it relies on claims about the drama's overall narrative form and its possible effects. What I wish to focus on instead are the ways in which several original, if problematic aspects of the drama stem from its metadramatic handling of death and the fear of death. The effects produced by these Euripidean metadramatic strategies, I argue, have important political and pedagogical implications as well, and perhaps not just for an Athenian audience of the 430s. These, at least to my knowledge, have not garnered sufficient attention among the profusion of scholars writing on the play from the varied and often conflicting critical perspectives of religion, gender, literary theory, democratic ideology, and so forth.
The Routledge Handbook of Hellenistic Philosophy, 2020
ed. Iakovos Vasiliou, Moral Motivation: A History, in the series Oxford Philosophical Concepts (Oxford University Press), 2016
This essay makes three connected claims. First, following the Stoics, Locke assigns a motivationa... more This essay makes three connected claims. First, following the Stoics, Locke assigns a motivational and not merely justificatory role to the law of nature that features prominently in the earlier Essays. Second, the hedonism prominent in later editions of the Essay has a justificatory and not merely motivational role, since, like ancient eudaimonists, Locke permits an objective ranking of certain pleasures and pains, and these operate within his theory as constituents of an objectively conceived human good, not merely as motivational sanctions. Third, the characteristic feature of rational agency, as developed in later editions of the Essay, is a capacity to evaluate and alter the strength of various pressing occurrent motives, through suspension and reflection, in the light of the rational authority and motivational power of moral law and individual happiness. The upshot is that Locke's theory is better integrated than some have supposed, while drawing heavily on ancient precedents.
Ed. M. Santirocco, What’s New about the Old? Reassessing the Ancient World (Daedalus, Spring 2016) , 2016
Corporations and academic institutions with valid photocopying and/or digital licenses with the C... more Corporations and academic institutions with valid photocopying and/or digital licenses with the Copyright Clearance Center (ccc) may reproduce content from Daedalus under the terms of their license. Please go to www.copyright.com; ccc, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers ma 01923. The typeface is Cycles, designed by Sumner Stone at the Stone Type Foundry of Guinda ca. Each size of Cycles has been sep arately designed in the tradition of metal types.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Eds. Bruce Robbins and Paulo Lemos Horta, Cosmopolitanisms, 2017
A somewhat popularizing survey of some issues that I take up in much more historical and philosop... more A somewhat popularizing survey of some issues that I take up in much more historical and philosophical detail in Stoic Political Theory (Chapter 5 of The Stoic Origins of Western Ethical and Political Thought) forthcoming
Научный и информационно-аналитический Гуманитарный Журнал. Ценности и смыслы, 2019
Δευκαλίων 15/1, σ 173-192. , 1997
The Studia Philonica Annual 15 pp. 35-53, 2003
Studies in the History of Ethics, 2006
Unlike their hero Socrates, who in one of antiquity's taller war stories, warded off enemies in t... more Unlike their hero Socrates, who in one of antiquity's taller war stories, warded off enemies in the Athenian retreat from Potidaea with a mere goose-like glance (Symposium 221b), Zeno, Cleanthes, and Chrysippus, the founding fathers of Stoicism, were foreign metics who never served Athens in any military capacity. Moreover, what we have of their political theory suggests they were the original commie peaceniks. They were dead set against currencies, law courts, and private property, and gung ho for same sex dressing, incest, Zeus's universal laws, and world peace. How is it, one might well wonder, that Stoicism seems to have achieved such a vogue among America's military elite, not to mention among legions of vicarious warriors on Wall Street? Sherman claims that there is a natural and deep relation between military values and those attitudes that in common parlance we take to be "stoic". But I doubt this gets us very far toward an adequate explanation of the recent buzz, since a quick shake out of our conceptions shows rather more tenuous and contingent connections. We can easily imagine Gandhi, for instance, taking slaps from British officers "stoically" or generations of downtrodden, starving peasants enduring nature's blows with "stoicism". In this sense, "stoic" is just as readily associated with peace, agriculture, and stray dogs faced with fleas. By the same token, Achilles, Alexander,
Eds. Jon Miller and Brad Inwood, Hellenistic and Early Modern Philosophy (Cambridge, 2003) pp. 45-61. , 2003
All rights reserved.
Natura Aut Voluntas. Recherches sur la pensée politique et éthique hellénistique et romaine et son influence , 2020
Lock's Gallery Catalogue for Chimes Exhibition
Brepols, 2020
La formule cicéronienne natura aut voluntas associe deux des contributions les plus originales de... more La formule cicéronienne natura aut voluntas associe deux des contributions les plus originales de la philosophie hellénistique et romaine à la pensée éthique et politique occidentale. Les six premiers chapitres examinent éléments fondamentaux de la théorie stoïcienne de la natura et de la loi naturelle, en montrant que les Stoïciens ont inauguré une nouvelle conception de l’éthique dans l’Antiquité gréco-romaine – une idée qui était appelée à culminer avec la théorie de Kant. Les chapitres portant sur les Épicuriens discutent ensuite la manière dont leur conception du plaisir et de la mort a forgé une notion de voluntas qui est aux origines de la notion moderne de libre arbitre. Les développements des deux derniers chapitres entendent montrer de quelle manière ces conceptions originales de la natura et de la voluntas sont devenues des piliers fondamentaux de la pensée éthique et politique des débuts de l’époque moderne .
Studia philologica, 2019
Forse la caratteristica più peculiare e problematica del pensiero ellenistico greco risiede nella... more Forse la caratteristica più peculiare e problematica del pensiero ellenistico greco risiede nella sua convinzione che gli individui possono bandire dalle loro vite tutte le interferenze contingenti e di aspirare, con il solo uso della ragione, alla condizione di invulnerabilità divina, di auto-sufficienza e di felicità. Questa tematica o ambizione non è certo del tutto nuova tra i moralisti greci. In diversi punti dei dialoghi platonici, ad esempio, Socrate e i suoi interlocutori discutevano già su quali fossero le condizioni e i requisiti di questa condizione divina nonché se il tentativo di raggiungere un' esistenza così auto-sufficiente fosse un fine desiderabile, prima ancora che possibile. A volte Platone sembra essere attratto dalla vita governata dalla sola ragione, con i relativi beni dell' auto-sufficienza e dell' invulnerabilità. In questi casi, il filosofo sembra suggerire che possiamo
sperare di sfuggire ai dardi della fortuna e ai terrori di una vita sia instabile che errante solo identificandoci con l' attività della parte razionale dell' anima. Ciò accade per esempio nel Gorgia, dove Socrate cerca di convincere Callicle a cercare soddisfazione rinunciando ai desideri impegnativi (492d1-495b6). Altre volte, invece, Platone pare ammettere che, per condurre delle esistenze simili, saremmo costretti a pagare un prezzo troppo alto: a rinunciare troppo ai nostri beni contingenti, in favore di cose e attività dotate di valore intrinseco
Mitsis Phillip
A cura di Piergiacomi Enrico
Anno di Edizione: 2019
Edizione: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER
Collane:
Studia Philologica, 22
ISBN: 978-88-913-1858-9
Rilegatura: Brossura
Pagine: 224
Formato: 15 x 22 cm
P. Mitsis (author), (author), E. Piergiacomi (translator and editor), "La libertà, il piacere, la... more P. Mitsis (author), (author), E. Piergiacomi (translator and editor), "La libertà, il piacere, la morte. Studi sull’Epicureismo e sulla sua influenza", Roma, Carocci, 2018
English Translation of Introduction to P. Mitsis, La libertà, il piacere, la morte. Studi sull'Ep... more English Translation of Introduction to P. Mitsis, La libertà, il piacere, la morte. Studi sull'Epicureismo e la sua influenza, edited and translated with an afterword by Enrico Piergiacomi (Carocci, 2019) pp. 17-29.
Studia Philologica, 2019
Forse la caratteristica più peculiare e problematica del pensiero ellenistico greco risiede nella... more Forse la caratteristica più peculiare e problematica del pensiero ellenistico greco risiede nella sua convinzione che gli individui possono bandire dalle loro vite tutte le interferenze contingenti e di aspirare, con il solo uso della ragione, alla condizione di invulnerabilità divina, di auto-sufficienza e di felicità. Questa tematica o ambizione non è certo del tutto nuova tra i moralisti greci. In diversi punti dei dialoghi platonici, ad esempio, Socrate e i suoi interlocutori discutevano già su quali fossero le condizioni e i requisiti di questa condizione divina nonché se il tentativo di raggiungere un' esistenza così auto-sufficiente fosse un fine desiderabile, prima ancora che possibile. A volte Platone sembra essere attratto dalla vita governata dalla sola ragione, con i relativi beni dell' auto-sufficienza e dell' invulnerabilità. In questi casi, il filosofo sembra suggerire che possiamo
sperare di sfuggire ai dardi della fortuna e ai terrori di una vita sia instabile che errante solo identificandoci con l' attività della parte razionale dell' anima. Ciò accade per esempio nel Gorgia, dove Socrate cerca di convincere Callicle a cercare soddisfazione rinunciando ai desideri impegnativi (492d1-495b6). Altre volte, invece, Platone pare ammettere che, per condurre delle esistenze simili, saremmo costretti a pagare un prezzo troppo alto: a rinunciare troppo ai nostri beni contingenti, in favore di cose e attività dotate di valore intrinseco
Mitsis Phillip
A cura di Piergiacomi Enrico
Anno di Edizione: 2019
Edizione: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER
Collane:
Studia Philologica, 22
ISBN: 978-88-913-1858-9
Rilegatura: Brossura
Pagine: 224
Formato: 15 x 22 cm
Chapter 4 of Epicurus' Ethical Theory: The Pleasures of Invulnerability (1988)
Chapter 3 of Epicurus' Ethical Theory. The Pleasures of Invulnerability (1988) This paper was wr... more Chapter 3 of Epicurus' Ethical Theory. The Pleasures of Invulnerability (1988)
This paper was written almost 40 years ago when I was a grad student. There is an updated bibliography and more nuanced presentation of the evidence from Cicero in
"Cicero on Epicurean Friendship: A Reappraisal" (2019) also avaiable on this site, as well as a comprehensive discussion in “Friendship”, ed. Phillip Mitsis, The Oxford Handbook of Epicurus and Epicureanism (Oxford University Press, 2020) pp. 250-283.
Chapter 2 of Epicurus' Ethical Theory. The Pleasures of Invulnerability (1988)
Epicurus' Ethical Theory, 1988
Chapter 1 of Epicurus' Ethical Theory. The Pleasures of Invulnerability (1988) This paper was w... more Chapter 1 of Epicurus' Ethical Theory. The Pleasures of Invulnerability (1988)
This paper was written forty years ago and it is online here as part of a book published in the '80s. I have changed my mind about many things which I think were wrong including the question of whether Epicurus is a eudaimonist. For more recent thoughts I have posted in drafts "Epicurus on Desire and Pleasure".
Epicurus' Ethical Theory, 1988
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
The Poetry in Philosophy, 2021
In this wide-ranging volume, fifteen distinguished scholars come together to honor the life and s... more In this wide-ranging volume, fifteen distinguished scholars come together to honor the life and scholarship of Christos C. Evangeliou. The papers examine topics he is well-known for, including the origins, character, and influence of Hellenic philosophy; its place among the other philosophies of the ancient and modern world; and its relation to religious rites, athletic contests, and daily life. Most eras of Hellenic philosophy are touched on, including the Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic philosophers, Neoplatonism, and Byzantine philosophy. Topics treated range from democracy, vegetarianism, and the environment, to consciousness, moral epistemology, free will, and happiness. Philosophy in poetry and poetry in philosophy are discussed through such figures as Homer, Parmenides, Aeschylus, and Plutarch.
Edited by Phillip Mitsis and Heather L. Reid, contributors include Georgios Anagnostopoulos, Linda Ardito, Rose Cherubin, Catherine Collobert, Panos Eliopoulos, Pavlos Kontos, Aikaterini Lefka, Fred Miller Jr., John Murungi, Anastasios Nikolaidis, Anthony Preus, Christopher Shields, and Hideya Yamakawa.
In ancient Greek and Roman culture, theatrical performances served as a school in which communiti... more In ancient Greek and Roman culture, theatrical performances served as a school in which communities engaged emotionally and intellectually with ethical, political, and cultural controversies. This volume brings together scholars from a range of disciplines who offer a variety of perspectives on the educational uses of the theater from archaic Sicily to Imperial Rome. Evidence from archaeology, epigraphy, iconography, history, philosophy, and of course, drama is brought to bear on the question of the many ways that theater functioned as an instrument of paideia in Greco-Roman antiquity.
The Oxford Handbook of Epicurus and Epicureanism, 2020
Table of Contents Contributors Introductory Remarks
Allusion, Authority, and Truth: Critical Perspectives on Greek Poetic and Rhethorical Praxis, 2010
Questions about how ancient Greek texts establish their authority, reflect on each other, and pro... more Questions about how ancient Greek texts establish their authority, reflect on each other, and project their own truths have become central for a wide range of recent critical discourses. In this volume, an influential group of international scholars examines these themes in a variety of poetic and rhetorical genres. The result is a series of striking and original readings from different critical perspectives that display the centrality of these questions for understanding the poetic and rhetorical aims of ancient Greek texts. Characterized by a combination of close attention to philological detail and theoretical sophistication, the essays in this volume make a compelling case for this kind of focused, critically informed dialogue about the nature of ancient textual praxis. Students of classical literature will find a wealth of critical insights and challenging new readings of many familiar texts.
Allusion, Authority, and Truth: Critical Perspectives on Greek Poetic and Rhetorical Pracitice, 2010
Questions about how ancient Greek texts establish their authority, reflect on each other, and pro... more Questions about how ancient Greek texts establish their authority, reflect on each other, and project their own truths have become central for a wide range of recent critical discourses. In this volume, an influential group of international scholars examines these themes in a variety of poetic and rhetorical genres. The result is a series of striking and original readings from different critical perspectives that display the centrality of these questions for understanding the poetic and rhetorical aims of ancient Greek texts. Characterized by a combination of close attention to philological detail and theoretical sophistication, the essays in this volume make a compelling case for this kind of focused, critically informed dialogue about the nature of ancient textual praxis. Students of classical literature will find a wealth of critical insights and challenging new readings of many familiar texts.
Taking their point of departure from Frederick Ahl's pioneering work, the distinguished scholars ... more Taking their point of departure from Frederick Ahl's pioneering work, the distinguished scholars in this volume have come together to re-examine the relation of poetry and power in the context of authoritarian regimes in ancient Rome and to examine the ways that poets not only commented on imperial politics, but also were direct participants in the construction of that political reality.
Examines the uses of hate in stoic pedagogy
Oxford Handbook of Hellenistic Philosophy, eds. J. Klein and N. Powers, 2025
Evidence for Epicurus's account of what he calls "to live blessedly" (to makariôs zên) is scatter... more Evidence for Epicurus's account of what he calls "to live blessedly" (to makariôs zên) is scattered and comes mostly from sources that are desultory or hostile, but fortunately his Letter to Menoeceus survives. 1 Consisting of a few summary paragraphs, it provides our most connected and detailed discussion. 2 It might be helpful, therefore, to begin by looking at its argument not only as a point of reference for further scholarly reconstructions, but also to place Epicurus's conception of living blessedly within the context of his main ethical doctrines, at least to the extent that they appear in the letter.
Ελευθερία, Ηδονή, και Θάνατος. Δοκίμια για τον Επικουρισμό και την Επιρροή του, μετάφραση, πρόλογος, σχόλια, Παναγιώτης Ηλιόπουλος , 2026
O Επίί κουρος θεωρείί οί τί η βασίκηί πηγηί της δυστυχίί ας μας, είί τε το αντίλαμβανοί μαστε είί... more O Επίί κουρος θεωρείί οί τί η βασίκηί πηγηί της δυστυχίί ας μας, είί τε το αντίλαμβανοί μαστε είί τε οί χί, είί ναί ο φοί βος του θαναί του. Συνηθίί ζουμε να πίστευί ουμε οί τί ο θαί νατος είί ναί «το πίο τρομακτίκοί αποί τα κακαί » (Προς Μενοικέα 125) καί οί τί δεν υπαί ρχεί τίί ποτα, τουλαί χίστον υποί κανονίκεί ς συνθηί κες, γία το οποίί ο εί χουμε περίσσοί τερους λοί γους να φοβοί μαστε. Πραί γματί, οί περίσσοί τεροί αποί εμαί ς, εκτίμαί ο ίί δίος, κατευθυνοί μαστε αποί τον συγκεκρίμεί νο αυτοί φοί βο στο να καί νουμε απεί λπίδες προσπαί θείες γία να αποτρεί ψουμε τους θαναί τους μας, συχναί εμπλεί κοντας τους εαυτουί ς μας σε επίί πονους, αν καί τελίκαί αυτοκαταστροφίκουί ς, ανταγωνίσμουί ς γία πραί γματα οί πως η δυί ναμη, το κυί ρος, καί τα χρηί ματα. Ως αποτεί λεσμα, βρίί σκουμε τους εαυτουί ς μας δίαρκωί ς ταραγμεί νους καί δυστυχείί ς. Ο Επίί κουρος μαί ς προσφεί ρεί μία επίλογηί : είί τε εγκαταλείί πουμε τη συμβατίκηί αί ποψη οί τί ο θαί νατος είί ναί εί να κακοί , ηί θα πρεί πεί να παραίτηθουί με αποί καί θε ελπίί δα γία την επίί τευξη της ψυχίκηί ς γαληί νης καί, επομεί νως, της ευδαίμονίί ας. Εφοί σον φρονείί πως είί ναί ασφαληί ς η υποί θεση οί τί οί λοί επίθυμουί με να είί μαστε ευτυχίσμεί νοί, το βασίκοί εί ργο του Επίί κουρου εί γκείταί στο να αποδείί ξεί οί τί ο θαί νατος δεν περίεί χεί κανεί να τροί μο, οί τί ουί τε μας πληγωί νεί ουί τε με καί ποίο τροί πο μείωί νεί την ευτυχίί α μας.
In P. Mitsis, Libertà, piacere, morte, Roma, Carocci, 2018, pp. 107-152
In F. de Luise, I. Zavattero, La volontarietà dell’azione tra antichità e medioevo, Trento, Unive... more In F. de Luise, I. Zavattero, La volontarietà dell’azione tra antichità e medioevo, Trento, Università degli Studi di Trento, 2018, pp. 205-230